1/48 Tamiya A6M2-N Rufe
The Tamiya 1/48 Rufe straight out of the box except for the sewing needle pitot. Painted with Tamiya rattle cans, weathered with chalks and pastels. I flat coated the cowl with a household brand clear-flat spray and that’s how it turned out, thought it looked kind of cool. I would have freaked out if it was on something other than a black seaplane cowl. A ‘good’ mistake for once and a lesson learned to at least stick with the spray hobby clear coats. Thank you for the look and letting me share, appreciate it!
4 additional images. Click to enlarge.
George R Blair Jr said on May 25, 2021
Looks great, Erik (@erikjameskidd). The gray surface weathering looks very convincing. I have had clear coats do this when sprayed on very humid days. I have been told that it does this because the clear paint traps moisture from the humidity and gives you a milky finish. I try to avoid painting on humid days, or spray in really thin coats to avoid trapping any unwanted moisture.
Erik J Kidd said on May 26, 2021
Thank you much! Was sure it wasn’t humid, however, you are right, that’s the only way to get that ‘effect’. I was experimenting with different spray clear-coats at the time and was amazed at… How much better Testors, Tamiya and Mr. Hobby stuff was and/or how weird the results were with Krylon, Rustoleum, etc.
George Williams said on May 25, 2021
It looks pretty good from here, @erikjameskidd, it’s always a risk when you mix different manufacturers’ products, definitely liked.
Erik J Kidd said on May 26, 2021
Thank you much!
George Schembri said on May 26, 2021
Definitely ‘liked’, Erik!
If you asked me, I thought you were trying to get a sea salt residue look 👀.
Nice job job with this Tamiya kit and the weathering.
Erik J Kidd said on May 26, 2021
Thank you!
Bob Torres said on May 26, 2021
Looks nice, in my eyes the weathering looks natural. Like a plane at the sea for a long period of time. Nice job on the overall build.
Spiros Pendedekas said on May 26, 2021
That’s a great Rufe, Erik!
Love your weathering interpretation1
Tom Cleaver said on May 26, 2021
Well, it was a Rufe in the Aleutians, and all photos of them show “heavy weathering” so you picked the right subject matter with which to commit a boo-boo.
Nice work on this old chestnut.
John vd Biggelaar said on May 26, 2021
Definitely a big like, Erik @erikjameskidd
The painting and weathering is very realistic.
Greg Kittinger said on May 26, 2021
Looks really good! I like the scheme, and dittos to the other comments about the “weathering” – looks pretty realistic to me.
DE4EVER said on May 27, 2021
🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
Very well rendered presentation of a Rufe.
The painting and weathering are very well done, nice job Erik !
Michael Turner said on May 31, 2021
G’day Erik (@erikjameskidd),
This is a great build.
I bet you couldn’t have achieved that cowling effect on purpose.
I have the Hasegawa kit to build one day and hope it will turn out rather like yours.
Liked!